UN reports mass killings in South Sudan

By KEVIN J. KELLEY

In Summary

The number of people killed in South Sudan in the anti-government uprising and ensuing tribal warfare “remains unknown, although it is likely in the thousands,” Unmiss said

Investigators were unable to visit several sites of reported mass killings due to fighting in those areas or restrictions imposed by government armed forces

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NEW YORK

Kenyan women were subjected to sexual violence in the South Sudan towns of Rubkona and Bentiu in the second half of December, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (Unmiss) said in a report issued on Friday.

Mass killings and gender-based violence, including gang-rapes and forced abortions, are among the human rights violations described in the Unmiss interim report. It covers the period from the start of the conflict on December 15 through the end of January.

The Kenyan women were targeted as foreign nationals, along with Ugandans, Ethiopians and Eritreans, Unmiss said, citing interviews with victims.

Opposition forces controlled Bentiu and Rubkona during the period when the rapes occurred, the report noted.

The number of people killed in South Sudan in the anti-government uprising and ensuing tribal warfare “remains unknown, although it is likely in the thousands,” Unmiss said.

It said that interviews with hundreds of victims and witnesses indicate “deliberate targeting of civilians, both nationals and foreigners, in extrajudicial and other killings, including mass killings, enforced disappearances, gender-based violence such as rapes and gang-rapes, and instances of ill treatment and torture by forces from both sides of the conflict.”

The UN mission cautioned, however, that the information it has presented requires further verification.